Illinois Basketball: How the Illini Make up for Missing Production
The daily life of being an Illinois basketball fan is quite stressful at times. Especially of late, things haven’t been exactly going our way.
That feeling culminated this past Tuesday as Illinois guard Kendrick Nunn was dismissed from the team after pleading guilty to a count of misdemeanor battery.
I have expressed my feelings on the Nunn case and hopefully, everything works out for the best on all fronts.
But, with the basketball season not too far away and the legal cases finally coming to an end, Illinois fans are going to start thinking about what we will see on the court this season.
One area of concern I have heard amongst the Illini faithful is where the production is going to come from since Nunn is not coming back?
This is a micro-question. It is a view through a tiny lens that doesn’t focus on the big picture.
There shouldn’t be a focus on just losing Nunn and his production. Illinois is losing two players that played valuable minutes last season.
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Nunn is one of those players and the other player is Khalid Lewis. Both of these players combined for 19.4 points per game, 6.7 rebounds per game, 4.7 assists per game, and 2.4 steals per game.
Illinois fans shouldn’t be focused on one singular player making up for the missing production. They need to look at it as a collective unit.
While Illinois is losing two players, one being a high volume scorer, they are also adding a few players as well.
I fully expect for guard Tracy Abrams to get his medical redshirt waiver and be on the court game one for the Illini this upcoming season. He is will be a nice addition at the point guard spot.
Along with Abrams, Illinois also added in guard Te’Jon Lucas to the mix. Lucas is a true freshman and should be a great secondary option to Abrams.
One more addition that isn’t new but will be seeing game action for the first time this season is Kipper Nichols. He brings an athletic body to the forward position.
These three players have to make up for the production that was lost by Nunn and Lewis. I could honestly see Abrams and Lucas making up for that production alone, but when you add in Nichols I think it makes us even better.
Illinois Fighting Illini
My expectations are high for this Illinois basketball team. I think the Illini fan base will see a major improvement at every position for the upcoming season.
The projected starting lineup I have right now for the Illini is as follows.
Abrams will start at guard, along with Jalen Coleman-Lands and Malcolm Hill. The other two positions in the starting lineup will belong to Leron Black at forward and Mike Thorne Jr. at center.
Behind the starting five is going to be a nice rotation. The starting lineup will be smaller and I actually like that because they are quick and will give opposing defenses problems.
The second rotation is going to be our “big” squad. This will consist of Lucas at guard. Along with Lucas, Illinois will trot out forwards DJ Williams, Nichols, and Michael Finke.
Maverick Morgan will then round out the second rotation at the center position.
Illinois will also have guards Aaron Jordan, Alex Austin, and Jaylon Tate coming off the bench in certain situations.
This team that is put together can reach great heights. While Illinois lost a decent amount of production, they still have enough new blood and talented players to make up for and exceed that missing production.
In addition to the new players coming in, Illinois will also Black and Thorne playing most of the season.
Thorne missed all but eight games last year and was granted a medical hardship waiver to come back this season. Black also only played in eight games last year and is going to be suspended for the first four regular-season games this season.
Both of these guys will add to the missing production and should be stabilizing forces in the paint.
I have no worries about the Illini this season without that production. In fact, I think they will be better because there will be more ball movement and less pounding the rock and isolation plays.
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This Illinois basketball team is going to sneak up on people this year and don’t be surprised if they sneak into the NCAA Tournament as well.